President's Awards for Services to Chess 2008

Four awards this year and congratulations to all four worthy recipients.

Cynthia Gurney

Most chess-players are probably unaware of the tremendous amount of work that is done by the staff in the ECF Office. They may also not appreciate the hard work and dedication shown by all of the office staff. In many respects they are as much the unsung heroes of the English Chess Federation as are those that have been the recipients of the Presidents Award for Services to Chess.

Cynthia Gurney, the Manager of Finance & Management Services, was nominated for the award not just to recognise her contribution to both the BCF & the ECF but mainly for her work in establishing the English Chess Library at UCH in Hastings. It was Cynthia’s drive and enthusiasm for this project that lead to the ECFs’ dream of a national chess library being realised in 2008. She took charge of the project and in doing so her input was over and above the work she normally performs for the ECF. Much of this work was undertaken in her own time and she is still working towards the aim of England having one of the best Chess libraries. It is fair to say that without Cynthia’s efforts we would not have the excellent facilities that we now have.

The Awards committee and the ECF Board are all delighted to make this award to Cynthia.

University Centre Hastings

University Centre Hastings is a Division of Brighton University. We first made contact in October 2005 after we had sent out a general request via ChessMoves for a new home for the Library which was languishing in boxes. This was followed by a meeting in November 2005 which really set the ball rolling. Apart from giving us such a wonderful new home for the Library the team from UCH backed by the faculty of Brighton University have supported the venture wholeheartedly from the outset. A great deal of work has been put in by the Hastings team, from unpacking the books to designing and providing bookplates for each book and providing shelving etc. Each book has been security tagged even the cataloguer has been provided free of charge from the university budget. UCH have hosted an open evening and welcomed visitors and researchers from the outset. It has taken three years of work for this library project to be up and running and expansion is already catered for. On 10th June 2008 a very well attended official opening took place with UCH once again providing the reception. Apart from the Library project UCH are developing a degree course on Chess and there are plans in the pipeline for tournaments and other events. None of these projects could have taken place without the dedication of UCH staff.

Alex Niedzwiedzki

Alex's presentation was made at Fakenham Chess Club by ECF Director John Wickham and was followed by a five round rapidplay tournament. It is a measure of Alex's popularity that Fred Day, an old friend from his Buckinghamshire days, travelled up just for the occasion. Photographs by John Charman

Alex was born in 1924, in what was part of Poland, that is now Ukraine, and after a chequered young life during World War 2 years. Escaping from the Germans, then being recaptured and made to work in a large railway marshalling yard in Austria which became a target for the Allied Bombing raids. After a period of time here, he was captured by the advancing American troops and interned; then on being processed joined the Free Polish Army, stationed in Northern Italy. Now classed as a stateless person he was offered U.S.A. or U.K. as a place to move too; Alex chose the latter.

He settled in Buckinghamshire and joined the Amersham Chess Club, there his enthusiasm and playing strength, resulted in becoming their Club’s Captain. (Tribute should also be given to his knack of making friends plus his organizational skills) Amersham under his captaincy began to flourish and during this period won the County League Championship four times.

Alex’s presence and achievements did not go unnoticed and in 1976 he was voted in as the First Team Captain. In the following five year period the County’s playing strength rose to a point that it registered two wins against Middlesex (which prior to this was unheard of) and held its own quite comfortably in the first division of the S.C.C.U. intercounty competition. His influence continued and in 1981 Bucks won the Minor Counties Championship of the B.C.F. (as it was called then) and in 1983 the county was narrowly defeated in this competition. According to reports of this period, the improvement in the team’s performance was due to Alex’s Captaincy in two ways.
A)   He was able to persuade most of the county’s strong players to turn out regularly.
B)   By his own personality he developed a team spirit which brought the best out of the team, individually and collectively.        

Not content with that, Alex in conjunction with other members of the Bucks. and Berks. Association organized the Marlow and Amersham Chess Congresses. Under his guidance he was involved from 1964 right through to 1983. It is acknowledge that a vast amount of work was contributed to Alex and to observers it appeared that Alex never went to bed during the congress!

In 1981/82, Alex masterminded the organization that went into the Bucks Chess Association Golden Jubilee Celebrations; which included chess matches against teams from Kent and Bedfordshire, a simulation match against juniors, a team lightening tournament, plus a one day congress. The culmination was a formal Dinner in Amersham.

Turning to his playing ability, Alex was twice joint winner of the County Individual Championship and many times champion of both High Wycombe and Amersham Chess Clubs. He was top board for many years for the County Correspondence Chess Team, and in 1962/63 season was awarded the Boyd Prize for the best played game in that year’s season.

In recognition Buckinghamshire County Chess Association made Alex a Life Honorary Member.

On his retirement Alex and Mary his wife, moved to Little Walsingham, Norfolk, and Alex joined Fakenham Chess Club. He also from this time supported Norfolk County Chess Teams and until recently played in all of the County’s Tournament. During this time he underwent a heart bypass operation at Papworth Hospital but as soon as his health allowed, he was back playing for County and Club.

Alex is still a shining example to young players on how to conduct themselves whether winning or losing and Buckinghamshire loss has been Norfolk’s gain.

David Ingram Dickson

Ask who has done more for chess in Chester and North Wales and look no further than one of chess's great visionaries, ex-constable David Ingram Dickson. Whilst in Wallasey he single-handedly set up the Wirral League and the Wallasey Chess Congress, which he ran for 9 years.

Not content with that he retired to North Wales setting up, in a local tavern, the Caergwrle Chess Club, the team which won the Chester and District League last season by a handsome margin, and is the only village chess club in Wales playing competitive chess.

Three years ago he had a vision of a new Chester Chess Congress, organised a team of chess buffs, and raised over £2200 for charity for the first event in 2006. The congress has become a permanent feature on the chess landscape.

Having been retired for many years and some time president of the CNWCA, he is now organising a junior, one day event for the same weekend as the main congress, believing that rejuvenation of our sport is vital for its long term health. So the next time you see him crouched over the board at one of the many congresses he so avidly attends, including the Isle of Man and RAF competitions down south, think on these great works and be impressed by this gentle giant of a man.

Previous Recipients