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Celebrating Bob Wade
April 12, 2021
From the official FIDE website:
https://www.fide.com/news/1021
Celebrating Bob Wade
This weekend would have been Robert Graham Wade's 100th birthday. Born on April 10, 1921, in Dunedin (NZ), he was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiads and one Interzonal tournament.
When Bob passed away in 2008, chess websites were flooded with eulogies and messages from his chess colleagues. He was an uncontroversial, well-loved and generous personality, who left a mark on all those he encountered.
Wade won two New Zealand Championships in a row, in Wellington 1943-44 and Auckland 1944-45, and then again in his hometown of Dunedin, in 1947-48. In order to pursue a career as a chess player he wanted to face stronger opposition, so he moved to Europe shortly after that, where international chess was coming back to life after the long hiatus caused by World War II. Following a couple of very active years, Bob achieved the International Master title thanks to his shared 5–7th place in the super-strong tournament of Venice 1950, won by Kotov.
In 1950 he settled in England, and in 1958 he earned the title of International Arbiter. He made much of his living as a writer, arbiter, coach, and promoter, and wearing all these different hats he earned the respect of his peers and the chess community.
“After he retired from professional play, Wade authored many books and was a key part of the ‘English Chess Explosion’ that began after the Fischer-Spassky match in 1972. Wade’s enormous library was consulted by many aspiring young players, as well as by established GMs such as Tony Miles. Even Bobby Fischer sought his assistance when preparing for Boris Spassky”, writes Malcolm Pein in his column today for The Telegraph. Indeed, in the days before computer databases, Bob’s library at his house in South London, constantly enlarged by Batsford’s publications (to which he served as chess editor), magazines, and tournament bulletins, was often used by British and foreign players in preparation for tournaments. Wade made use of all this material to create a file on Boris Spassky and help Bobby Fischer prepare for his 1972 World Championship match.
“He was one of the most influential figures in the English Chess Explosion and the nicest person you could ever meet”, wrote Malcolm Pein on Twitter. “He did so much for English chess without courting recognition. He occasionally offered me stern but sympathetic advice - and was usually right”, added Daniel King. "Bob helped in establishing the TWIC (The Week in Chess) database, the leading source of online chess news; was an arbiter at the Kasparov v Nigel Short 1993 world title series and at the annual Oxford v Cambridge match; and continued to encourage young talent. He helped many future GMs from Jonathan Speelman to David Howell, and his sharp wit, kindness and generosity made him probably the most liked personality in English chess”, remembers Leonard Barden.
Bob has an opening line named after him, which is probably one of the highest forms of recognition a chess player can get. After playing 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 for decades, this is known now as the Wade Defence. But this is by no means the only tribute he has received: in 1979 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, usually known by its acronym, OBE. A memorial tournament in his honour was held this weekend in Auckland, New Zealand, with the victory by Gawain Jones.
__________
Bob was a prolific author. I can remember him with bags and bulging pockets at the British Championship in Coventry (1970) getting the game scores for a tournament book.
Some of his publications:
1. The World Chess Championship 1951 Botvinnik vs Bronstein Winter and Wade
2. Hastings Congress 1951/52
3. Hastings Congress 1953-54
4. Hastings Congress 1954-55
5. Hastings Congress 1955-56
6. 1957 World Championship Botvinnik-Smyslov
7. 1963 World Championship Botvinnik-Petrosian
8. Dundee Centenary Tournament 1967
9. Interzonal Sousse 1967
10. Monte Carlo 1968 with Les Blackstock
11. Soviet Chess 1968
12. Palma de Mallorca 1968 with Blackstock and Fuller
13. Monaco 1969
14. Palma de Mallorca 1969
15. Palma de Mallorca 1970 with Blackstock
16. IBM Tournament, Amsterdam 1970
17. The Velimirovic Attack, Sozin Sicilian with T.D. Harding 1970
18. New ideas in the accelerated dragon 1970
19. The Closed Ruy Lopez with Blackstock and Booth 1970
20. Bobby Fischer’s chess games with Kevin O’Connell 1972
21. World Championship 1972 with Gligoric 1972
22. Interzonals Leningrad and Petropolis 1973 with Blackstock
23. The Marshall Attack 1974 with Harding
24. 44th USSR Championship Moscow 1977
25. Niksic 1978 with Shaun Taulbut
26. Tilburg 1978 Tony Miles with Bob Wade
27. The children’s book of chess 1978 with Ted Nottingham
28. Sicilian: Lasker-Pelikan 1978
29. Korchnoi’s 400 best games 1978 Korchnoi with Wade
30. Bugojno 1978 with Blackstock and Thomas
31. 45th USSR Championship, Leningrad 1977
32. The Regency Masters 1979 with Nigel Povah
33. 46th USSR Championships 1978 with Keen and Nunn 1979
34. Montreal 1979 with Blackstock and Hosking
35. Tilburg 1979 with Blackstock 1980
36. 49th USSR Championships 1981
37. Moscow 1983 50th USSR Championship with Blackstock
38. Niksic 1983
39. Tilburg and Bath 1983 with Anatoly Karpov
40. Playing Chess 1984
41. USSR v Rest of the World 1984 Keene, Goodman and Wade
42. Fighting Chess: Kasparov’s games and career 1985 G. Kasparov
43. The World Chess Championship: Botvinnik to Kasparov 1986 with Keene and Whiteley
44. World Championship Kasparov v Karpov London/Leningrad 1986
45. Developments in the Benko Gambit, 1981-86 1986
46. Developments in the Sicilian Keres attack 1981-86 1986
47. Nigel Short wins Wijk aan Zee 1986
48. The game of the round: Dubai Olympiad 1986, 1987
49. Developments in the Sicilian Najdorf, 1985-87
50. Developments in the Sicilian Dragon 1984-88
51. Moscow 1988 55th USSR Championship with Speelman
52. Closed Spanish 1988 with Martin
53. Third African Junior Chess Championship: Gaborone, Botswana 1990
54. Advance French 1991 with Gkountintas
55. The Batsford book of chess 1991
56. Trends in the Reti 1992 with Gkountintas
57. What happens next?? Short v Timman v Kasparov 1992
58. Trends in the London System 1992 with Gkountintas
59. Trends in the Petroff 1992 with Blackstock
60. Batsford chess endings 1993 with Speelman and Tisdall
61. Winning chess, piece by piece with Nottingham and Lawrence 1998
62. Winning chess, tactics and strategies 1999 with Nottingham and Lawrence
April 12, 2021
From the official FIDE website:
https://www.fide.com/news/1021
Celebrating Bob Wade
This weekend would have been Robert Graham Wade's 100th birthday. Born on April 10, 1921, in Dunedin (NZ), he was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiads and one Interzonal tournament.
When Bob passed away in 2008, chess websites were flooded with eulogies and messages from his chess colleagues. He was an uncontroversial, well-loved and generous personality, who left a mark on all those he encountered.
Wade won two New Zealand Championships in a row, in Wellington 1943-44 and Auckland 1944-45, and then again in his hometown of Dunedin, in 1947-48. In order to pursue a career as a chess player he wanted to face stronger opposition, so he moved to Europe shortly after that, where international chess was coming back to life after the long hiatus caused by World War II. Following a couple of very active years, Bob achieved the International Master title thanks to his shared 5–7th place in the super-strong tournament of Venice 1950, won by Kotov.
In 1950 he settled in England, and in 1958 he earned the title of International Arbiter. He made much of his living as a writer, arbiter, coach, and promoter, and wearing all these different hats he earned the respect of his peers and the chess community.
“After he retired from professional play, Wade authored many books and was a key part of the ‘English Chess Explosion’ that began after the Fischer-Spassky match in 1972. Wade’s enormous library was consulted by many aspiring young players, as well as by established GMs such as Tony Miles. Even Bobby Fischer sought his assistance when preparing for Boris Spassky”, writes Malcolm Pein in his column today for The Telegraph. Indeed, in the days before computer databases, Bob’s library at his house in South London, constantly enlarged by Batsford’s publications (to which he served as chess editor), magazines, and tournament bulletins, was often used by British and foreign players in preparation for tournaments. Wade made use of all this material to create a file on Boris Spassky and help Bobby Fischer prepare for his 1972 World Championship match.
“He was one of the most influential figures in the English Chess Explosion and the nicest person you could ever meet”, wrote Malcolm Pein on Twitter. “He did so much for English chess without courting recognition. He occasionally offered me stern but sympathetic advice - and was usually right”, added Daniel King. "Bob helped in establishing the TWIC (The Week in Chess) database, the leading source of online chess news; was an arbiter at the Kasparov v Nigel Short 1993 world title series and at the annual Oxford v Cambridge match; and continued to encourage young talent. He helped many future GMs from Jonathan Speelman to David Howell, and his sharp wit, kindness and generosity made him probably the most liked personality in English chess”, remembers Leonard Barden.
Bob has an opening line named after him, which is probably one of the highest forms of recognition a chess player can get. After playing 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 for decades, this is known now as the Wade Defence. But this is by no means the only tribute he has received: in 1979 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, usually known by its acronym, OBE. A memorial tournament in his honour was held this weekend in Auckland, New Zealand, with the victory by Gawain Jones.
__________
Bob was a prolific author. I can remember him with bags and bulging pockets at the British Championship in Coventry (1970) getting the game scores for a tournament book.
Some of his publications:
1. The World Chess Championship 1951 Botvinnik vs Bronstein Winter and Wade
2. Hastings Congress 1951/52
3. Hastings Congress 1953-54
4. Hastings Congress 1954-55
5. Hastings Congress 1955-56
6. 1957 World Championship Botvinnik-Smyslov
7. 1963 World Championship Botvinnik-Petrosian
8. Dundee Centenary Tournament 1967
9. Interzonal Sousse 1967
10. Monte Carlo 1968 with Les Blackstock
11. Soviet Chess 1968
12. Palma de Mallorca 1968 with Blackstock and Fuller
13. Monaco 1969
14. Palma de Mallorca 1969
15. Palma de Mallorca 1970 with Blackstock
16. IBM Tournament, Amsterdam 1970
17. The Velimirovic Attack, Sozin Sicilian with T.D. Harding 1970
18. New ideas in the accelerated dragon 1970
19. The Closed Ruy Lopez with Blackstock and Booth 1970
20. Bobby Fischer’s chess games with Kevin O’Connell 1972
21. World Championship 1972 with Gligoric 1972
22. Interzonals Leningrad and Petropolis 1973 with Blackstock
23. The Marshall Attack 1974 with Harding
24. 44th USSR Championship Moscow 1977
25. Niksic 1978 with Shaun Taulbut
26. Tilburg 1978 Tony Miles with Bob Wade
27. The children’s book of chess 1978 with Ted Nottingham
28. Sicilian: Lasker-Pelikan 1978
29. Korchnoi’s 400 best games 1978 Korchnoi with Wade
30. Bugojno 1978 with Blackstock and Thomas
31. 45th USSR Championship, Leningrad 1977
32. The Regency Masters 1979 with Nigel Povah
33. 46th USSR Championships 1978 with Keen and Nunn 1979
34. Montreal 1979 with Blackstock and Hosking
35. Tilburg 1979 with Blackstock 1980
36. 49th USSR Championships 1981
37. Moscow 1983 50th USSR Championship with Blackstock
38. Niksic 1983
39. Tilburg and Bath 1983 with Anatoly Karpov
40. Playing Chess 1984
41. USSR v Rest of the World 1984 Keene, Goodman and Wade
42. Fighting Chess: Kasparov’s games and career 1985 G. Kasparov
43. The World Chess Championship: Botvinnik to Kasparov 1986 with Keene and Whiteley
44. World Championship Kasparov v Karpov London/Leningrad 1986
45. Developments in the Benko Gambit, 1981-86 1986
46. Developments in the Sicilian Keres attack 1981-86 1986
47. Nigel Short wins Wijk aan Zee 1986
48. The game of the round: Dubai Olympiad 1986, 1987
49. Developments in the Sicilian Najdorf, 1985-87
50. Developments in the Sicilian Dragon 1984-88
51. Moscow 1988 55th USSR Championship with Speelman
52. Closed Spanish 1988 with Martin
53. Third African Junior Chess Championship: Gaborone, Botswana 1990
54. Advance French 1991 with Gkountintas
55. The Batsford book of chess 1991
56. Trends in the Reti 1992 with Gkountintas
57. What happens next?? Short v Timman v Kasparov 1992
58. Trends in the London System 1992 with Gkountintas
59. Trends in the Petroff 1992 with Blackstock
60. Batsford chess endings 1993 with Speelman and Tisdall
61. Winning chess, piece by piece with Nottingham and Lawrence 1998
62. Winning chess, tactics and strategies 1999 with Nottingham and Lawrence
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