Summer acquisitions

I have acquired several unusual and interesting chess publications during my travels over the Summer and below are brief details of a selection of these, starting with some problem related items:

Report on First Problem Solving Contest for Schools, by G.P.Bowell.

This joint report by the British Chess Problem Society and the Chess Education Society is not listed in Betts' Bibliography and is undated, however this problem solving contest is referred to in the Annual Report of the BCPS for the year ended 31st August 1945; this latter Report is in The Problemist magazine for November 1945, pages 192-193.

Six weekly Papers, each containing three two-move problems, were completed by 505 pupils from 51 schools, and 50 competitors scored full marks. A second problem solving contest for schools was held in the year ended 31st August 1946 with 379 competitors from 47 schools.

This Report includes the six Papers, the 18 problems, notes to assist the pupils, solutions, and a Score Sheet listing all of the individual results. 

 

The above Report came with a run of 26 issues of The Problemist from 1944 to 1948.  

This is the bi-monthly periodical of the British Chess Problem Society and here are a few book-related snippets from these issues:

November 1944, page 147: Comments on the elusive Christmas Series book on Robert Braune, Apôtre de la Symétrie.

July 1945, page 176: A summary of a lecture by M.W. Paris on his chess library.

January 1946, page 203: Book Reviews.

July 1946, page 224: Additions to the Society's library.

 

July 1946, page 225: Obituary to C. D. Locock noting his chess works. 

July 1948, page 322: Additions to the Society's library.

Awards in Problem Tourneys, 1943-44, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48. Published by the British Chess Federation. Betts 32-29.

This annual publication ran from 1930 to 1979, and the five issues above each cover three problem composing tourneys, giving around 25 to 30 winning compositions from each tourney with solutions and judges comments. Each issue also has an Introduction, Announcement of forthcoming tourneys and the final results from the previous year's tourneys as three months were allowed for claims in respect of anticipation, cooks or other defects. There were many such claims each year.

Shown here are pages from the 1945-46 issue together with Notes on the 1945-1946 Tourneys from the 1946-47 issue; note that the winning composition in Tourney no. 50 was subsequently found to be "cooked".

Finally, two pamphlets by Rev. Noel A. Bonavia-Hunt:

A Study in Simultaneous Pinning of White Force in the Two-Move Chess Problem, Stroud 1948. Betts 35-8.

Mutual Line-Pin Strategy in the Two-Move Chess Problem, Stroud 1948. Betts 35-9.

These are the first two in a series of twelve Research Pamphlets by Bonavia-Hunt published between 1948 and 1953 on various problem composing themes.

More recent additions to my library next time.

                                             © Michael Clapham 2017