Dear fellow chess players and enthusiasts from Bedfordshire, courtesy of his sustained efforts on his truly excellent website Britbase, archivist John Saunders has done what no one else has online and provided us with games from a reported former county champion of Bedfordshire. This means W. B. Dixon, formerly of Leighton Buzzard, becomes the first reported county champion who we have games for and can thus establish his chess playing prowess to some degree, and his successes further afield also.1
Who exactly was W. B. Dixon? I have twice posted about him,2 although I must say the evidence is rather depressing as he was indeed peripatetic but do click on the links in the footnote.
The exact page you need on John’s excellent site is already linked about but here it is again- Britbase. May I suggest you scroll down before you look at the games provided? Should you do so, you will note that W. B. Dixon not only did exceptionally well in the tournament he played in in Kent but also beat American champion H. N. Pilsbury in a simul. That game can be found as number 19.
N.B. Establishing exactly when the Bedfordshire County Championships began and who the first champion was is problematic as its inception has been left undocumented. There is a list of former county champions on Adrian Elwin‘s site, which can be found here –Former County Champions, however, this only begins in 1926/7. The local reportage in a previous post cites W. B. Dixon as county champion in 1906 and describes him as ‘the champion’, from which we must assume he was the current champion otherwise they would have described him as a former champion one would expect. How he also became champion of Buckinghamshire -I have no material pertaining to that. Until further evidence is uncovered, we can only state that W. B. Dixon is the first to be reported as county champion. We have no evidence that former multiple champion of London and participant in the Anglo-American cable matches as well as runner-up of the 1908 British Championships William Ward, was ever Bedfordshire County Champion.
In reaching out for further assistance on the English Chess Forum, further info on W. B. Dixon was provided by the knowledgeable contributor Jon D’ Souza-Eva
Pictures of his grave from the links above are shown below.
There are only two games and in both a lack of king safety is abundantly clear and proves decisive. It is commonly argued that in Victorian times -from which the players involved emerged- chess was focused on attack and gambits much more than defence. Both games seem to lend support to that argument. ↩︎
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Only the good die young…
Not sure about you but I always preferred the peanut ones.
The American version of Smarties.
It’s probably human nature to like someone who seems a bit different, or at the very least, to take an interest in them. It’s true there weren’t many I encountered like that long ago, but some there were. And function as an exemplar at that stage in my life they did -and by that I mean I wanted to be like them in certain respects when I was young.
It’s also commonplace to like someone who shares the same interests as you, especially when you both dress the same way, have a similar background, have the same initials even, and you find them uplifting. This was true of Marcus Misson, who used to captain the Hunts & Peterborough county team in the 90s in the EACU. I took a liking to him for many reasons. Nowadays, I am mostly known as Marcus even though this is not my actual name (Mark is), although I should add this is only so informally, mostly amongst friends and colleagues. Many do like to change their name but he is the original inspiration behind that little namesake shift of mine, partially successful in reducing self-loathing some! 1 He used to have long hair tied back, as I did, he was my age also and a super-friendly guy. Working class like me and very extrovert -not at all your archetypal chess player. He always seemed to have a smile on his face and I liked how organized he was. Whenever I had the opportunity to chat to him I did for he had such great interest in everything and was very approachable. Because of this I looked up to him – as the county team captain- and often watched how he went about things with some admiration – as you do when you like someone, for example -how he would fill in results on the team sheets whilst on the go by standing and leaning on doors or walls for support whilst scribbling and chatting away quietly to team-mates unfussed by anything.
In 1992 I was into grunge and changed how I looked accordingly. I almost always wore either Nirvana T-shirts or cartoon based ones with another T-shirt underneath and some funky hand-me-down cardigan on top -much like Kurt Cobain used to. I also used to wear hairbands of different colours on my forearm and sometimes several of them -Marcus pointed that out once and thought it was cool as it was only us who had long hair that’s for sure (his blonde, mine brown, roughly the same length). We were both much younger than everyone when playing for the county and a bit more colourful than most you could say. My last recollection of him comes from that same year at Bedford Modern School, one Saturday afternoon in April I think it was.
Although long overdue, I recently chased up where he might be now only to find he died long ago and left a young family behind after succumbing to illness. Details of his life and how active he was can be found here: http://www.cambschess.co.uk/Special.php.
I am sure he is sadly missed by many “A lovely guy. Tragic” -Kevin Williamson. I am inclined to concur with Kevin here: for someone who loved his chess, was perspicacious and so upbeat all the time, that it is yes. 😦
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.” ― Marcus Aurelius,Meditations
I should add that my home club also had someone called Marcus, who I was loosely friends with for many years. That’s all it was though. I did not look up to him and want to befriend him like I did with Marcus Misson. Most consider Marcus to be a Roman name, like in Marcus Aurelius for example. I don’t. It’s a chess name for me -positive, inspirational and an easy choice. ↩︎
You may find me on Lichess if you so wish…olc is a Gaelic word.
Even in Starbucks they know me by the name Marcus.
My opponent, Dennis Pawlek is an IM at draughts and the one able to provide documentation of when I played for England. As you can see, he is in some trouble in this game played on October 3rd 2019.
If you know of any females playing chess over there, please provide the following info + picture:
Age:
Elo rating:
Telephone number:
Club she plays for:
Favourite openings:
Disclaimer: this picture was taken when I was at my handsomest. I am not so handsome now, a bit fat, and into Nihilism too much.
Supporting statement: I’ve been away from England in hope of finding a partner good at chess like me for some time but ran aground with those blasted foreign types! I am now waiting for the right moment to set sail and make blighty my home again for the right chess player -this is not some last ditch attempt!
Testimony from ex-girlfriend: He can be a good laugh sometimes, and I suppose he is alright, but he gets drunk a lot and when he does he just goes on and on about chess all the time -you can’t shut him up! It did my head in, so I booted him out. Loads of women have, so I’m not surprised he’s after someone who’s more into chess than me now -I don’t think anyone else could put up with him! He woke me up in the middle of the night completely off his head once. Then put loud heavy metal music on and asked if I wanted to play some bullet chess! But when sober, I suppose he is alright yeah -he’s just kinda a bit lost! With the right woman he’d probably be alright tbh.
Testimony from English chess player: Mark would make a good husband if he found the right chess player, and he does need to go home yes. His main weakness is he always panics because he thinks his time is running out, grabs hold of whatever he can, then messes everything up. The same is true of his chess -that’s just him. His heart is in the right place but his head is messed up. Whenever you go round his to play chess he always puts mad music on and gets plastered. Many girls he’s been with didn’t like that, it drove some of them up the wall because he goes berserk sometimes! He never causes anyone any harm though. He’d probably be a good catch if he stopped playing that mad music all the time! Other than that, yes he’s a decent enough fellow.
Recent Opponent: Mark is a very polite English guy and a good chess player but at the tournament we played in, he kept listening to music and went all crazy. It scared some of the people playing and even me. He’s completely normal at the table when he plays but when he goes outside whilst waiting for you to move, he always plays music and acts all crazy. It’s like a bomb’s gone off in his head or something! He asked me if I knew of any girls that played chess. I actually know one who does and who likes him. She thinks he’s dead funny. She also said when he puts music on, it’s like a bomb gone off in his head. She likes how he tries to get his opponents drunk. He tried that with me too but I said no.
Former Landlord: He is a good guy but I had to ask him to find somewhere else. What on earth happens to him when he listens to that music of his I don’t know -I’ve never seen or heard anything like it! He be like a Jekyll and Hyde character. He’d sit in his room studying chess all day and not make a peep, then suddenly you’d get the most dreadful music I’ve ever heard played full blast for hours and he’d go mental -trying to fly around the room and jump all over the place -all this throwing his head about stuff, falling over furniture and smashing bottles of cider against the walls! When he turn it off, he be alright again and go back to studying the chess. It put the fear of god into the neighbours downstairs, so we had to ask him to find somewhere else. I heard he’s looking for an English chess player to settle down with yeah. I think he’d be alright but she’d have to tell him not to play that music of his.
Remarks by McCready: yes okay, I’m not saying any of that isn’t true but all of this stuff happened whilst abroad. Like they say ‘What happens on tour stays on tour’. I’m talking about returning home and living my life out with an English woman who is well into her chess like me -it’s not the same. Things would be different. I would stop listening to music. I would not drink alcohol anymore either. I would stop chasing women as well. All that would be a thing of the past.
Response by Webmaster: we have received numerous complaints about this post already and have removed naughty photographs of Mr. McCready as they violate the terms of our policy.
Former Bangkok chess club member: Hello, my name is Patrick, and I was the pianist for the Bangkok Philharmonic Orchestra when I lived in Thailand. When Bangkok Chess Club was based at the Roadhouse Bar about 10 years ago, there was a jukebox you could use. Mark always made it play mad music that annoyed everyone. One band was called Alice in Chains, they were a grunge band he said. But he didn’t just play one song, it was always lots of them. It was absolute rubbish. We asked the owner to turn it off once. I don’t think it’s a good idea for English women to marry him unless they have some good earplugs -dreadful.
Luton Chess Club Member: Hello, I am Mr. Mirza a member of Luton chess club. I used to drive Mark to county matches in the 90s before he left England and became a ladies man. He always talked about music in my car and made me play some once -Danzig it was called. It was mad stuff and nearly caused me to crash my car, so I turned it off. Mark, though, is not the only one to play chess for Luton who liked mad music. There was another called Nick something who did, he liked The Sparks. Another called Paul something, he liked the same sort of stuff as Mark, and John something also, he used to go dancing in the woods at night -it’s more of a Luton thing than a Mark thing I would say. We don’t think we could help Mark find a suitable partner. He always used to say Philosophy graduates were the best not chess players, then it was heavy metal maidens, then rock chicks, then punk rockers, then goth girls. What will it be next I wonder -what a ladies man!
(note to self: stop bloody reading about Pathos in Rhetoric by Aristotle before you come up with these memes of yours!)
…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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