Ronald (Ronnie) Wilson Ives, Yorkshire Chess

[Ingrid Ives]

Chess Club

[Kevin Thurlow]

The "Postal Chess Club" was run by BH Wood as part of the magazine "Chess". BH was a keen CC (Correspondence Chess) player, and he organised events which he publicised in his magazine (and he did collect entry fees of course). There were individual and team events, some open to all, and others based on promotion and relegation. I think you could just ask to be paired with someone and he would facilitate that. The PCC continued after "Chess" was taken over by Pergamon, but when Malcolm Pein took over, he closed PCC down. There are a number of CC organisations in UK, all doing good work, but it gets complicated working out who does and did what!

Tim Harding doubtless knows a lot more about PCC.

[Ingrid Ives]

Thanks for this insight, Kevin.

I suppose a benefit of playing correspondence chess would be the ability to fit it in around one’s day job?
That said, the attached game suggests otherwise. I’m not sure who is withdrawing; David Parr or my father? People all seemed to have very similar writing in those days.

[Ingrid Ives]

Chess Club

[Roger de Coverly]

I’m not sure who is withdrawing; David Parr or my father?

David Parr gained something of a reputation for withdrawing from events. Many years later in 1977, I beat him in the first round of a major London tournament, He didn't appear for the second round. That was by no means unique in his playing history.

[Kevin Thurlow]

I see Roger got there first! I got the impression "silent withdrawal" was more DP's style than sending a message.

BCCA is British Correspondence Chess Association and https://www.bccachess.org/about/history/ might help.

Ian Pheby, President and Treasurer of EFCC (English Federation for Correspondence Chess), https://www.efcchess.org.uk/about.html provided more information on PCC.

The PCC had at least one division (perhaps two or three?) of teams of 10 boards with four games per board. This was held annually with Mushrooms being the strongest team in the late eighties and early nineties. One year Mushrooms was so strong that they scored something like 35 out of 40. Bearing in mind the strength of the teams at that time that was an incredible score. (I will modestly confirm that as I was playing about board 9 - KJT)

For individuals, the PCC ran a variety of competitions – mini leagues of seven players with promotion available, knockouts, a championship, etc. These were largely quite strong but by the early 1990s interest was dropping off in a similar way to evening league chess.

Keith Escott ran the PCC for a very long time under B H Wood. Paul Lamford became editor of "Chess" and was in charge of the PCC for a couple of years before Malcolm Pein took over, and scrapped the PCC.

Old issues of "Chess" would provide more information.

[John Saunders]

Here are six more games digitised from the latest press cuttings posted by Ingrid...

As before, the key to viewing games is to click on the three dots above the diagram. Also, having mouse-clicked somewhere in the viewer area, it becomes possible to navigate from one game to another by pressing "N" for next game or "B" to go back to the previous game.

[Event "BCCA Premier B"] [Site "corr"] [Date "1962.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Ives, Ronald Wilson"] [Black "Parr, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A21"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1962.??.??"] [EventType "tourn (corr)"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Ronald Ives scorebook"] [SourceDate "2023.05.01"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.05.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 f5 4. d4 e4 5. Ng5 h6 6. Nh3 g5 7. e3 Nf6 8. Be2 Be6 9. Bd2 Nbd7 10. Qc2 Bg7 11. O-O-O c6 12. Kb1 O-O 13. Rc1 Nb6 14. Na4 d5 15. Ba5 dxc4 16. Bxc4 Bxc4 17. Bxb6 Bxa2+ 18. Kxa2 axb6 19. Qb3+ Qd5 20. Qxd5+ Nxd5 21. Kb3 Ra5 22. Nc3 Nxc3 23. Rxc3 Rfa8 24. Rd1 Ra1 25. Rcc1 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Kf7 27. Ng1 Ke6 28. Ne2 Bf8 29. Nc3 Bd6 30. h3 b5 31. Rd1 {"I am withdrawing from the tourney since I cannot now spare the time for correspondence." (David Parr). Source: RW Ives scorebook} 1-0 [Event "Appleby Frodingham Premier 7th"] [Site "Scunthorpe"] [Date "1959.05.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Beaty, John Harold"] [Black "Cockcroft, John G"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A38"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "1959.05.15"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Ronald Ives column"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. c4 c5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d3 d6 8. Bd2 Nh5 9. Rb1 f5 10. Ng5 e6 11. f4 h6 12. Nf3 Bd7 13. a3 Qe7 14. b4 Rab8 15. b5 Nd8 16. e4 Nf6 17. Re1 fxe4 18. dxe4 e5 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. cxd5 Bg4 21. Qb3 Bxf3 22. Bxf3 exf4 23. gxf4 Nf7 24. Re2 g5 25. Kh1 gxf4 26. Rg1 Ng5 27. Bc3 c4 28. Qb2 Kh7 29. Bxg7 Rg8 30. Bf6 Nxf3 31. Reg2 c3 32. Qxc3 Nxg1 33. Bxe7 Rbc8 34. Qd3 Rc1 35. e5+ {Source: RW Ives column, Yorkshire Evening Post. Premier: (1) JH Beaty 4½/5; (2) JE Littlewood 4; (3-4) Dr LB Pawson, MA Haigh 3½; (5-6) JG Cockcroft, CR Gurnhill 3; (7-8) N Littlewood, OH Hardy 2½; (9-11) J Gilchrist, WH Hammett, PM Shaw 2; (12-13) WF Coles, J Lilley 1; (14) M Jackson ½.} 1-0 [Event "Yorkshire ch 1958/59"] [Site "Yorkshire"] [Date "1959.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Beaty, John Harold"] [Black "Edwards, Raymond Brunton"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1959.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Ronald Ives column"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 g6 (6... e5 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. c4 Be6) 7. c4 e6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Bg5 Qb6 10. Ndb5 O-O 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Nxd5 Qxb5 14. Nxf6+ Kg7 15. Nd5 Qxb2 16. Rb1 Qe5 17. f4 Qd6 18. Qc2 Rb8 19. Rfd1 Be6 20. Qc3+ Kh6 21. Nf6 Qe7 22. g4 g5 23. Qh3+ Kg7 24. Qxh7+ Kxf6 25. Qh6# {Source: RW Ives column, Yorkshire Evening Post (undated).} 1-0 [Event "County m Yorks-Lancs"] [Site "?"] [Date "1959.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Ives, Ronald Wilson"] [Black "Grimshaw, B."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E41"] [Annotator "Ives, Ronald W"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "1959.??.??"] [EventType "team-match"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Ronald Ives column"] [WhiteTeam "Yorkshire"] [BlackTeam "Lancashire"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O b6 $2 (7... O-O {would have led to the normal position in this opening. After 25 minutes' thought, mv opponent played 7...b6 which leads practically by force to a won position for white because of the weakness of the a4-e8 diagonal.}) 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Ng4 12. Bb5+ Bd7 (12... Kf8 {is better than 12...Bd7.}) 13. Qxg4 Bxb5 14. Qxg7 Rf8 15. Rd1 Bc4 16. e4 Qh4 17. exd5 O-O-O 18. Bg5 {Source: RW Ives column, Yorkshire Evening Post (undated). Year not known but most probably 1959.} (18. Bg5 {If} Rg8 19. Qxg8) 1-0 [Event "Simul - Keres 22 bds"] [Site "Leeds"] [Date "1955.12.28"] [Round "?"] [White "Keres, Paul"] [Black "Haigh, Michael A"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A56"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "1955.12.28"] [EventType "team-simul"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Ronald Ives column"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 g6 6. f4 exf4 7. Bxf4 a6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O Nh5 11. Bg5 Qc7 12. Qd2 Nd7 13. Bh6 Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Be2 Nf4 17. Bf3 Qd8 18. Na4 Qg5 19. Kh1 Bg4 20. Nxc5 Rac8 21. Nxb7 Rxc4 22. Rae1 Rfc8 23. Bxg4 Qxg4 24. Rf2 Rd4 25. Qe3 Rd3 26. Qb6 Rd1 27. Qe3 Rxe1+ 28. Qxe1 Nd3 29. Nd6 Nxf2+ 30. Kg1 Rc2 31. Qf1 Nh3+ 32. Kh1 Rf2 { Source: RW Ives column, Yorkshire Evening Post (undated). Keres scored +16, =5, -1 at Leeds (BCM, January 1956, p38)} 0-1 [Event "Yorkshire Championship 1957/58"] [Site "Yorkshire"] [Date "1958.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Petkevitch, Boris"] [Black "Edwards, Raymond Edwards"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A30"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "1958.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Ronald Ives column"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. e3 c5 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O b6 8. Nc3 d5 9. Nxd5 Nxd5 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. Bc4 Qd6 13. d4 cxd4 14. exd4 Bg4 15. d5 Ne5 16. Be2 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Rac8 18. f4 Nd7 19. Qd4+ Qf6 20. Qe4 Qd6 21. Rfd1 Nf6 22. Qe5 Rfd8 23. Bf3 Rc5 24. b4 Rc4 25. a3 Rxf4 26. Qxd6 Rxd6 27. Kg2 Rc4 28. Rac1 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Nxd5 30. Bxd5 Rxd5 31. Rc7 a5 32. bxa5 bxa5 33. Rxe7 Rd3 34. Re3 Rxe3 35. fxe3 Kf6 36. Kf2 Ke5 37. Ke2 Ke4 38. a4 f5 39. h3 g5 {Source: RW Ives column, Yorkshire Evening Post (undated).} 0-1

As Roger and Kevin have already pointed out, David Parr was a notorious "drop out". I recall he did his disappearing trick at a Bucks & Berks (Marlow) Congress half a century or so ago and someone wrote in a magazine that the organisers "all but had the Thames dragged" to track him down...

[Ingrid Ives]

David Parr sounds like a character! I’m surprised anyone wanted to play him with a reputation like that.

Kevin, many thanks for the additional information about the PCC and thanks also to John for adding those games. A few more to follow.

[Ingrid Ives]

Chess Club

[Ingrid Ives]

Chess Club

[Ingrid Ives]

Chess Club

[Ingrid Ives]

Chess Club

[Ingrid Ives]

York 1959

[John Saunders]

I am pleased to be able to report that there will be more material to share in this thread in the days to come. Ingrid has very kindly lent me her father's chess memorabilia including scorebooks, newspaper cuttings and tournament programmes and it's my intention to digitise games and determine dates of newspaper cuttings over the coming months, with a CHESS magazine article also in the pipeline.

Ronnie Ives was accorded an obituary in both CHESS and BCM. Here are the cuttings...

1964-02 p185 CHESS obit RW Ives = article.jpg

1964-04 p105 BCM obit RW Ives - article.jpg

... and the text from the above articles for ease of reference...

CHESS Magazine, Vol.29, no.454, February 1964, p185

LOST GAME. . .

Our dear friend Ronny Ives died on February 13th [1964] at the tragically early age of 40. He went into hospital in the New Year for what seemed a minor operation but turned out more serious.

R. W. Ives had been a member of the Wakefield C. C. since its re-formation in 1946 and more recently a member, also, of Leeds C. C. Except for a short period when he played for Leeds, he took first board for Wakefield in the Woodhouse Cup with marked success. For years he had been a capable and efficient Hon. Treasurer of Yorkshire C. A. and chess columnist of the Yorkshire Evening Post. He worked in the security department of Barclay’s Bank at Leeds. He will be sadly missed by his numerous friends. He leaves a wife and three children. [uncredited but almost certainly written by B.H. Wood]

British Chess Magazine, April 1964, p105

R. W. IVES

The sudden death on February 13th [1964] of R. W. Ives, at the tragically early age of forty, has robbed the North of England of one of its best known chess figures.

R. W. Ives had been a member of the Wakefield C.C. since its reformation in 1946 and more recently a member of Leeds C.C. He was a rather stronger player by correspondence than over-the-board and at the time of his unfortunate death was participating in the B.C.F. Correspondence Championship.

For the last few years he had been a very capable and efficient Hon. Treasurer of the Yorkshire C.A. and chess columnist of the Yorkshire Evening Post. He leaves a widow and three young daughters, to whom our deepest sympathy goes.—A[lex]. Schofield.

... more to follow soon.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Not the most important thing, but noted the game scorebook upthread had space for 100 moves a game!

70-80 seems to be the norm.