Worcester College For The Blind. A Chess Legacy. Words, Pictures And Games. Part Three.
Afternoon everyone. Back with part three. A lot less text this time, but my usual bagful of games and pictures. Same rules as the last two - drop in and out when you have 10 minutes.
So last time I mentioned Theo Tylor and Rupert Cross. You can easily look them both up on the internet, so I won't do much biography and personal stuff here.
Let's start with Tylor.
The biography given in Chess Pie Number 3 - put together for the Nottingham 1936 tournament where he was the highest placed British player.
The game given there.
At Nottingham he beat Flohr again - no notes here - hopefully some of you will have Alekhine's wonderful, and cynical, notes from the tournament book. At move 68, for example, we get ''Black prepares and at last makes the decisive mistake.''
Three players who's names come up in these three posts - from the same Chess Pie.
While I was there, I copied a little bonus for you.
The most important game of the above 1929 tournament.
One more Tylor game which I rather like.
Tylor - britishchessnews who are doing great work!! Check them out!
Something to link the two halves of this article.
So - Rupert Cross - he used the name Rupert - was quite the chess celebrity in Britain from an early age. LOTS of pictures to be found.
Apart from the novelty of him being totally blind, he could seriously play! Good enough to be selected for the British Championships, where he certainly didn't disgrace himself. The above Birmingham Gazette report mentions Hugh Alexander - I hope you have all read my Bletchley Park article, which also includes a picture of Tylor. Cross beat him twice.
This next game is a great excuse to throw in the following wonderful picture!! It includes Tylor in the team of Oxford University where he spent much of his life.
Let's go back to the header picture.
Rupert cross on the left, and I am sure, Sultan Khan and the back of Tylor's head!!
Cross also played Sultan Khan.
A loss, but a fascinating game against a player who had by then established a global reputation.
A side note!! Cross seems to have been a bit of a character! This from the great Leonard Barden - still going strong! - on Ecforums.
One last game.
O.K. I will finish with a nice report from Worcester College For The Blind, and then I will throw in everything else I have in the folder.
Chess for Blind players had been a notable feature of chess in Worcester. The Worcestershire Challenge shield which is offered by the Worcestershire Chess Association for the
Public Schools was brought to Worcester for the first time when Worcester College for the Blind defeated the holders, King Edward's School Stourbridge by 6 games to 0.
The Blind College had a very successful season beating every school they met and have suffered defeat only once by Malvern Town Chess Club.
In 1919, Worcester College for the Blind hosted a simutaneous display by the future Cuban world chess champion José Capablanca who had just won the 1919 Hastings Victory
Congress. The college also hosted a simultaneous display by Alekhine in 1926 shortly before he wrested the world title from Capablanca.
The Head Teacher in 1931 was GC Brown and he stated the college team had played 89 matches against other public schools, winning 85, drawing 1 and losing only 3 matches
since the club was formed in 1913. Pictures showing the players are in Winter's Chess Notes 3421.
Ray Collet - there was a V. Collet mentioned earlier, I assume a relation!? Worcs Chess History.
Some people do 20-20. I do 5 day test matches!!
Have a great bank holiday everyone. See you all next time.
