English Chess Forum

Jack Redon might be considered the founnder of Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club.

He was also champion of Kingston (beating JH Blake in the process) and Battersea Chess Clubs, played in the 1957 British Championship, and, as a teenager, was the second ever winner of the Wernick Cup (Division 4 of the Surrey Individual Championship) in 1923.

Here's the story of his life and chess career. Perhaps you played him yourself, or have your own memories of him.

https://britishchessnews.com/2024/08/19 ... ack-redon/

Thank you for that, Richard. Good to know that he represented both Kingston and Twickenham on the other side of the river, but chose Surrey as his county. Would he have been eligible for Middlesex in those days? His dates almost exactly match that of my grandfather (1904-1997) who lived in Ham in his retirement. It is good that there is at least one photo of Redon (the one you found at BritBase for the British Championship he was in). Do you know if there are any other photos?

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2024 1:02 pm

Thank you for that, Richard. Good to know that he represented both Kingston and Twickenham on the other side of the river, but chose Surrey as his county. Would he have been eligible for Middlesex in those days? His dates almost exactly match that of my grandfather (1904-1997) who lived in Ham in his retirement. It is good that there is at least one photo of Redon (the one you found at BritBase for the British Championship he was in). Do you know if there are any other photos?

Many thanks to Richard for the article, really interesting and much appreciated.

Was the question about playing for Middlesex? From my records he did play for Middlesex in 1967 and 1969 against Hampshire. Although in both cases the games did not go his way.

A couple of Jack Redon's wins from Brian Denman's collection...

[Event "Twickenham v Hastings"] [Site "Hastings"] [Date "1956.09.09"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Redon, John Edward"] [Black "Damant, Charles Ambrose S"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "1956.09.09"] [EventType "team-match"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Denman Collection"] [Source "Brian Denman"] [SourceDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Twickenham"] [BlackTeam "Hastings"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. fxg7 Rg8 9. Re1+ Be6 10. Ng5 Qd5 11. Rxe6+ fxe6 12. Qh5+ Kd7 13. Qf7+ Ne7 14. Nxh7 Kc6 15. Nf6 Qf5 16. Nd2 b5 17. Nde4 Bd6 18. Nxd6 Kxd6 19. h4 Rgd8 20. g4 Qf3 21. Ne8+ {Source: Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 22 September 1956 (Brian Denman Collection)} 1-0
[Event "County m Surrey-Sussex"] [Site "Brighton"] [Date "1937.10.09"] [Round "1.17"] [White "Redon, John Edward"] [Black "Ovenden, Edward David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "1937.10.09"] [EventType "team-match"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Denman Collection"] [Source "Brian Denman"] [SourceDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Surrey"] [BlackTeam "Sussex"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. Nf3 exd4 4. c3 Bc5 5. Bc4 d6 6. O-O Bg4 7. Bb5 dxc3 8. Nxc3 Nge7 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bf4 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 O-O 12. Bc4+ Kh8 13. Qh3 Ng6 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. fxe3 Nce5 16. Be6 c6 17. Rf5 Qe8 18. Qxh7+ Kxh7 19. Rh5# {Source: Sussex Daily News, 14 October 1937. For White's 13th move the score gives 'Q-R4', and it is impossible therefore to tell if Redon played 13 Qh5 or Qh3. (Brian Denman Collection)} 1-0
Another thing I noticed when browsing newspapers: Redon played top board for Richmond & Twickenham vs Hastings in a match played over the weekend of 29-31 August 1952 and beat Theodore Tylor. Ref. Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 6 September 1952. The columnist, A A Rider, added the following comment: "Mr. T. H. Tylor, one of our country members, playing on our top board, lost his game on time while in a splendid winning position."

I would guess that "Q-R4" in that context is likely to be mixing up Black's R4 square with White's, so 13 Qh5 may be the more likely?