Robert Wade (chess player)

Robert Graham Wade (10 April 1921 – 29 November 2008), known as Bob Wade, was a New Zealand and English chess player, writer, arbiter, coach, and promoter.

He was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiads and one Interzonal tournament.

Wade held the titles of International Master and International Arbiter.

Wade grew up on a farm in Dunedin, New Zealand, far from the world's chess centres, and lacked strong competition early in his career.

He developed his chess skills from materials in his local library, such as the British Chess Magazine and works by Australian champion Cecil Purdy.

After winning the New Zealand Chess Championship in 1944, 1945 and 1948, he travelled to Europe to further his chess career.

International chess was starting up again after a six-year hiatus caused by World War II.

For most Masters, it was a matter of dusting off their skills, but Wade had little if any high-class experience to draw upon, so he struggled at first with the new standard.

Wade was attempting to become the first international-class player from New Zealand.

He played in the British Chess Championship at Nottingham 1946, the first post-war championship, placing tied 10–12th with just 3½/11.

His first continental European event was Barcelona 1946, won by Miguel Najdorf; Wade was a tailender with just 3/13 for a tied 12–13th place.

Wade played in the Australian Chess Championship at Adelaide 1946–47, placing tied 2nd–4th with 10½/15, with Lajos Steiner winning.

Wade travelled as far as Canada to compete in the 1947 Canadian Chess Championship at Quebec City, scoring 7/13 to tie 7–8th places, with Daniel Yanofsky winning.

Better things lay ahead on Wade's next European foray.

He scored 5½/9 at Baarn 1948 for a tied 2nd–3rd place, with Harry Golombek winning.

Wade made 3½/9 at Hastings 1948–49 for 8th place, with Nicolas Rossolimo winning.

He represented New Zealand and Australia at the FIDE Congress at Paris 1949, which marked the 25th anniversary of the founding of FIDE in Paris in 1924.

Wade played many strong events in 1949, raising his standard significantly with competition against top-class Grandmasters.

At Beverwijk 1949, he scored 4½/9 for a tied 6–7th place, with Savielly Tartakower winning.

Wade placed 2nd at Arbon 1949 with 6/7, trailing only Ludek Pachman.

He struggled at Trencianske Teplice 1949, placing last with 4½/19, as Gideon Ståhlberg won.

At Heidelberg 1949, Wade scored 4/9 for a tied 6–8th place, as Wolfgang Unzicker won.

Then at Oldenburg 1949, Wade made 8½/18 for 10th place, with Efim Bogolyubov and Elmārs Zemgalis on top.

At Southsea 1950, Wade scored 6/10 for a shared 7–13th place, as Arthur Bisguier won.

The constant practice led to his best result to date, an excellent shared 5–7th place in a powerful field at Venice 1950 with 8½/15, with Alexander Kotov the champion.

This earned Wade the International Master title later that year.

Wade drew a 1950 match at Bamberg by 5–5 with Lothar Schmid, and settled in England.

Wade was British Champion in 1952 (at Chester, with 8/11), and 1970 (at Coventry, with 8/11).

Wade qualified for the Saltsjöbaden Interzonal 1952, scored 6/20, and did not advance to the Candidates level.

His other high finishes in the British Championship were 3rd at Hastings 1953 on 7½/11 (with Daniel Yanofsky winning), 2nd at Rhyl 1969 on 7½/11 (with Jonathan Penrose winning), and tied 3rd–6th at Blackpool 1971 on 7/11 (with Raymond Keene winning).

Wade defeated many-time Scottish champion William Fairhurst in a match at Glasgow 1953 by 5½–2½.

Wade went on to represent his adopted country in six Chess Olympiads, and his country of birth on one occasion.

In 92 games, his totals at this level are: (+30−26=36), for 52.2 per cent.

His detailed results in Olympiads, from olimpbase.org, follow.

Wade won several middle-strength Master events in the British Isles: Ilford 1957 and 1968, Paignton 1959, Dublin 1962, and Southend-on-Sea 1965.

Wade was generally no more than a middle-ranking player in strong international tournaments.

His other highlights against high-standard international-level competition include:

Wade was the only British player to have faced Bobby Fischer in tournament play (outside of Olympiads).

They met three times, with Wade drawing one game and losing the other two.

Wade earned the title of International Arbiter in 1958, and made much of his living from directing events.