Brian Eley

Notices of deaths, death announcements and messages.
Locked
Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5802
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:19 pm

And local police did not learn from their "errors"...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-s ... e-61881000

Keith Arkell
Posts: 928
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:10 am

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Keith Arkell » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:30 pm

It looks like I got lucky, as the only time I played in the Glorney - 1979 - we were privileged to have John Littlewood as team manager.

On the matter of Eley we pretty much all heard the rumours, but he never laid a finger on me - his worst 'crime' being to take my photo a few times in playing halls.

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:39 pm

Keith Arkell wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:30 pm
On the matter of Eley we pretty much all heard the rumours
See this is what bothers me, and what is generally bothersome about occurrences of this nature. It's clear from a number of contributions on this forum that Eley's activities were widely known about and widely discussed, many years before the police were ever involved. It is clear that these discussions reached, and must have reached, the ears of senior people within the then BCF and the chess community in general. So what steps were taken in all that time to deal with the problem? And after Eley fled, what steps did the BCF take to review its own actions (if any) and failures, with a view to making a recurrence less likely? Has it ever undertaken such a review?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Nick Ivell » Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:11 pm

It doesn't sound to me that any steps were taken about the problem. If they had been, Eley would not have been involved in 1980; and it appears that his dismissal had nothing to do with sexual misconduct.

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:16 pm

Nick Ivell wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:11 pm
It doesn't sound to me that any steps were taken about the problem.
Do we know that though, and could we know in the absence of any such review
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Nick Ivell » Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:22 pm

No, we don't know for certain. As I said before, on this subject I always expect there to be more questions than answers.

On the face of it, Eley would have continued to have been offered the team management role, had it not been for the indefensible default against Scotland.

Are there people who know anything? David hinted as much. Now is their chance to come forward!

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Sat Jun 25, 2022 9:28 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:35 pm
The October 1991 BCM records his disappearance "breaking police bail in July".
This prompts me to ask also - how much coverage of the accusations against Eley appeared in the British chess press?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Nick Ivell » Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:07 am

I've seen nothing about Eley at all. Not sure how much coverage there was when he did a runner.

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21291
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:38 am

JustinHorton wrote:
Sat Jun 25, 2022 9:28 am
This prompts me to ask also - how much coverage of the accusations against Eley appeared in the British chess press?

There was extensive coverage in Kingpin, if that counts as chess press.

Brian Eley's businiss did a circulation of Congress entry forms as a sideline and presumably as a way of contacting potential customers. Those on the list knew something was up because of a circular earlier in the year announcing the sale and renaming of the business.

In the BCM, Berbard Cafferty (presumably) used a technique that he had commented on as being used by publications in the Soviet Union. That was to justopose two apparently unrelated items, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions. In this case, it noted that Eley had held positions in junior chess organisation.

The Glorney Cup incidents of ten years earlier may have received some coverage.

User avatar
John Upham
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.
Contact:

Re: Brian Eley

Post by John Upham » Sat Jun 25, 2022 11:09 am

JustinHorton wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:39 pm
So what steps were taken in all that time to deal with the problem? And after Eley fled, what steps did the BCF take to review its own actions (if any) and failures, with a view to making a recurrence less likely? Has it ever undertaken such a review?

Perhaps HJP / JPM could remind us (not that I knew in the first place) which BCF officials were alerted to BREs activities?

I've seen Jim mentions 44 affidavits at various times over the years.

Was there a desire to keep the story suppressed?

Perhaps we will never know.

At the time it must have been viewed as "rock and a hard place" type scenario.
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Nick Ivell » Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:24 pm

I don't think we will ever know. And Eley is now beyond the reach of justice.

User avatar
Matt Mackenzie
Posts: 5191
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:51 pm
Location: Millom, Cumbria

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sat Jun 25, 2022 4:06 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:38 am
The Glorney Cup incidents of ten years earlier may have received some coverage.
They certainly did in CHESS, though not having my old issues to hand just now I'm not sure how prominently mentioned Eley was (if at all)
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

John Townsend
Posts: 827
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:26 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by John Townsend » Sun Jun 26, 2022 3:35 pm

I am hazy about his early chess years. I see from John Saunders' Britbase that he played in the 1964 British Boys' Under-18 Championship at Whitby. What were the clubs that nurtured such a talent? Where was he educated? Did his school have a chess club?

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by Nick Ivell » Sun Jun 26, 2022 4:23 pm

I don't know what his clubs were. I know he lived in Bolton-on-Dearne.

Eley had a great tactical talent but, in my view, almost zero positional sense.

John Townsend
Posts: 827
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:26 pm

Re: Brian Eley

Post by John Townsend » Sun Jun 26, 2022 6:02 pm

Thank you, Nick. I already knew Bolton-on-Dearne from the 1964 tournament table given on Britbase. I have noticed since my post that Edward Winter has produced a feature article on Eley

https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/eley.html


containing some interesting photographs, including one of an order for chess supplies from Eley's business at Bolton-on-Dearne.

Locked