Robert Wade (chess player)
Encyclopedia
Robert Graham Wade OBE
(born 10 April 1921 Dunedin
, New Zealand – died on 29 November 2008, London), was a British chess
player, writer, arbiter, coach
, and promoter. He was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiad
s and one Interzonal
tournament. Wade held the titles of International Master and International Arbiter
.
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 3.5/11. 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 10.5/15, 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.
1948 for a tied 2nd-3rd place, with Harry Golombek
winning. Wade made 3.5/9 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 4.5/9 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 4.5/19, as Gideon Stahlberg
won. At Heidelberg
1949, Wade scored 4/9 for a tied 6-8th place, as Wolfgang Unzicker
won. Then at Oldenburg
1949, Wade made 8.5/18 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 8.5/15, 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). His other high finishes in the British Championship were 3rd at Hastings
1953 on 7.5/11 (with Daniel Yanofsky
winning), 2nd at Rhyl
1969 on 7.5/11 (with Jonathan Penrose
winning), and tied 3rd-6th at Blackpool
1971 on 7/11 (with Raymond Keene
winning).
Wade qualified for the Saltsjöbaden
Interzonal
1952, scored 6/20, and did not advance to the Candidates level. Wade defeated many-time Scottish champion William Fairhurst
in a match at Glasgow
1953 by 5.5-2.5.
Wade went on to represent his adopted country in six Chess Olympiad
s, and his country of birth on one occasion. In 92 games, his totals at this level are: (+30 =36 -26), 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.
in 1958, and made much of his living from directing events. He defeated tournament winner Viktor Korchnoi
at Buenos Aires
1960, and continued to play on the international circuit. Wade served as chess editor with the respected Batsford
publishers in the 1960s and 1970s, eventually retiring to make way for Raymond Keene
. He managed the Batsford Chess Library after this. Well respected as a chess coach and author, Wade helped Bobby Fischer
prepare for his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky
by collating a special file of Spassky's games. He was awarded an OBE
for services to chess in 1979. He was made an 'Honorary Member' of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. He declined to "trade in" his International Master title for that of honorary Grandmaster, considering his title, awarded in the days before title inflation, far more valuable.
Continuing to be an active player into his 80s, Wade was still able to play at a high level. This is shown by his performance at the 2006 Queenstown
Chess International, where he scored 6/10 with only one loss, and drew
his game against Grandmaster Murray Chandler
. Wade played in the European Senior Teams chess championship for the last six years, with excellent results considering his age and grade. His last major event was the Staunton Memorial in London in July 2008, where he was badly outrated (a single draw would have increased his Elo rating), and he fought gamely but scored 0/11. A few weeks before his death, he played his final serious game, for the Athenaeum Chess Club.
Wade built up an enormous chess library at his house in South London, which included books, magazines and many original bulletins from tournaments: these latter were the primary sources for many types of chess literature. The growth of this library was supported by B.T. Batsford. Eventually the library was gifted to the nation, though its eventual destination is not certain at present. In the days before computer databases the Wade library was often used by British and foreign players in preparation for matches.
Wade was hospitalized on 26 November 2008, with severe pneumonia
and died on 29 November 2008.
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4, and played it for over 30 years. As of 2008, it is a slightly unusual but well-respected opening that has been played by a number of high-level grandmasters. It is known as the Wade Defence for Wade's advocacy of and contributions to the opening.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 10 April 1921 Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand – died on 29 November 2008, London), was a British chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
player, writer, arbiter, coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, and promoter. He was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s and one Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
tournament. Wade held the titles of International Master and International Arbiter
International Arbiter
In chess, International Arbiter is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter in important chess matches . The title was established in 1951....
.
Early Career in New Zealand
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 MagazineBritish Chess Magazine
British Chess Magazine is the world's oldest chess magazine in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as BCM....
and works by Australian champion Cecil Purdy
Cecil Purdy
Cecil John Seddon Purdy was an Australian chess International Master and inaugural World Correspondence Chess champion. Purdy earned the Grandmaster title at Correspondence Chess in 1953...
.
After winning the New Zealand Chess Championship
New Zealand Chess Championship
The New Zealand Chess Championship was first conducted in 1879.Note: Up until 1934 foreign players were eligible for the title. The eligibility rules were changed in 1935 to preclude this; John Angus Erskine was born in Invercargill and was therefore eligible although he was domiciled in...
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
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
at Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
1946, the first post-war championship, placing tied 10-12th with just 3.5/11. His first continental European event was Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
1946, won by Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....
; Wade was a tailender with just 3/13 for a tied 12-13th place. Wade played in the Australian Chess Championship
Australian Chess Championship
The Australian Chess Championship is a tournament organised by the Australian Chess Federation and held every two years. The tournament is usually restricted to Australian chess players, although exceptions have been made on occasion. The winner of the tournament holds the title of Australian Chess...
at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
1946-47, placing tied 2nd-4th with 10.5/15, with Lajos Steiner
Lajos Steiner
Lajos Steiner was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master.Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,, and a younger brother of Endre Steiner...
winning. Wade travelled as far as Canada to compete in the 1947 Canadian Chess Championship
Canadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
at Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, scoring 7/13 to tie 7-8th places, with Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, OC, QC was Canada's first chess grandmaster, an eight-time Canadian Chess Champion, a chess writer, a chess arbiter, and a lawyer.-Life in chess:...
winning.
British career
Better things lay ahead on Wade's next European foray. He scored 5.5/9 at BaarnBaarn
Baarn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.-The municipality Baarn :The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche.- The town Baarn :...
1948 for a tied 2nd-3rd place, with Harry Golombek
Harry Golombek
Harry Golombek OBE , was a British chess International Master and honorary grandmaster, chess arbiter, and chess author. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He became a grandmaster in 1985.He was the chess correspondent of The Times...
winning. Wade made 3.5/9 at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1948-49 for 8th place, with Nicolas Rossolimo
Nicolas Rossolimo
Nicolas Rossolimo was an American-French-Russian-Greek chess Grandmaster. He was many times champion of Paris, France, and after relocating to the United States won the 1955 U.S. Open Championship...
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
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
1949, he scored 4.5/9 for a tied 6-7th place, with Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower
Ksawery Tartakower was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist of the 1920s and 30s...
winning. Wade placed 2nd at Arbon
Arbon
Arbon may refer to:* Arbon, Haute-Garonne, French commune* Arbon, Switzerland* Arbon , in Switzerland* Arbon Valley, Idaho...
1949 with 6/7, trailing only Ludek Pachman
Ludek Pachman
Luděk Pachman was a Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he was allowed to emigrate to West Germany...
. He struggled at Trencianske Teplice
Trencianske Teplice
Trenčianske Teplice is a health resort and small spa town in western Slovakia, in the valley of the river Teplička, at the foothills of the Strážovské vrchy mountains.-Characteristics:...
1949, placing last with 4.5/19, as Gideon Stahlberg
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939....
won. At Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
1949, Wade scored 4/9 for a tied 6-8th place, as Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970.He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead....
won. Then at Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
1949, Wade made 8.5/18 for 10th place, with Efim Bogolyubov and Elmārs Zemgalis
Elmars Zemgalis
Elmārs Zemgalis , is a Latvian-American chess master and mathematics professor. He was awarded an Honorary Grandmaster title in 2003.- Biography :...
on top. At Southsea
Southsea
Southsea is a seaside resort located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire in England. Southsea is within a mile of Portsmouth's city centre....
1950, Wade scored 6/10 for a shared 7-13th place, as Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bernard Bisguier is an American chess Grandmaster, chess promoter, and writer. Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships , three U.S. Open Chess Championship titles , and the 1954 United States Chess Championship title. He played for the United States in five chess Olympiads...
won. The constant practice led to his best result to date, an excellent shared 5-7th place in a powerful field at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
1950 with 8.5/15, with Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
the champion. This earned Wade the International Master title later that year. Wade drew a 1950 match at Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
by 5-5 with Lothar Schmid
Lothar Schmid
Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid is a German chess grandmaster who was born in Dresden. He is best known as the arbiter of several World Chess Championship matches...
, and settled in England.
Wade was British Champion
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
in 1952 (at Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, with 8/11), and 1970 (at Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, with 8/11). His other high finishes in the British Championship were 3rd at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1953 on 7.5/11 (with Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, OC, QC was Canada's first chess grandmaster, an eight-time Canadian Chess Champion, a chess writer, a chess arbiter, and a lawyer.-Life in chess:...
winning), 2nd at Rhyl
Rhyl
Rhyl is a seaside resort town and community situated on the north east coast of Wales, in the county of Denbighshire , at the mouth of the River Clwyd . To the west is the suburb of Kinmel Bay, with the resort of Towyn further west, Prestatyn to the east and Rhuddlan to the south...
1969 on 7.5/11 (with Jonathan Penrose
Jonathan Penrose
Jonathan Penrose, OBE is an English chess player, emeritus Grandmaster, and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster who won the British Chess Championship ten times between 1958 and 1969. He is the son of Lionel Penrose, a world famous professor of genetics, and brother of Roger Penrose...
winning), and tied 3rd-6th at Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
1971 on 7/11 (with Raymond Keene
Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene OBE is an English chess Grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author.p196 He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England to earn a Grandmaster norm, in 1974. In 1976 he became the second...
winning).
Wade qualified for the Saltsjöbaden
Saltsjöbaden
Saltsjöbaden is a locality situated in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 8,937 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea.- History :...
Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
1952, scored 6/20, and did not advance to the Candidates level. Wade defeated many-time Scottish champion William Fairhurst
William Fairhurst
Dr. William Albert Fairhurst CBE was an English-born bridge designer and chess master of world renown. Unusually, he was highly accomplished in both disciplines and for many years successfully divided his time between two distinguished careers...
in a match at Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
1953 by 5.5-2.5.
Wade went on to represent his adopted country in six Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s, and his country of birth on one occasion. In 92 games, his totals at this level are: (+30 =36 -26), for 52.2 per cent. His detailed results in Olympiads, from olimpbase.org, follow.
- Amsterdam 195411th Chess OlympiadThe 11th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 4 and September 25, 1954, in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, England board 4, 6/12 (+4 =4 -4); - Moscow 195612th Chess OlympiadThe 12th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 31 and September 25, 1956, in Moscow, Soviet Union.-References:...
, England board 3, 6.5/14 (+2 =9 -3); - Munich 195813th Chess OlympiadThe 13th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 30 and October 23, 1958, in Munich, West Germany.-References:...
, England 1st reserve, 7/14 (+5 =4 -5); - Leipzig 196014th Chess OlympiadThe 14th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 26 and November 9, 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany.-References:...
, England 2nd reserve, 6/11 (+4 =4 -3); - Varna 196215th Chess OlympiadThe 15th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 15 and October 10, 1962, in Varna, Bulgaria.-References:* OlimpBase...
, England 2nd reserve, 6/12 (+4 =4 -4); - Siegen 197019th Chess OlympiadThe 19th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open team tournament and the Annual Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, took place between September 5 and September 27, 1970, in the small town of Siegen, West Germany.-Tournament report:...
, New Zealand board 2, 9/15 (+7 =4 -4); - Skopje 197220th Chess OlympiadThe 20th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 18 and October 13, 1972, in Skopje, Yugoslavia ....
, England board 3, 7.5/14 (+4 =7 -3).
Wade won several middle-strength Master events in the British Isles: Ilford
Ilford
Ilford is a large cosmopolitan town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail...
1957 and 1968, Paignton
Paignton
Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 48,251. It has...
1959, Dublin 1962, and Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
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:
- tied 4-5th at HaifaHaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
/Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
1958 on 7.5/13 (winner Samuel ReshevskySamuel ReshevskySamuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
); - 3rd at Bognor RegisBognor RegisBognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
1959 on 7/10 (winner Erno GerebenErno GerebenErnő Gereben was a Hungarian–Swiss chess master whose half-century career extended from the mid-1920s to the late 1970s....
); - 5th at ReykjavikReykjavíkReykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
1964 on 7.5/13 (winner Mikhail TalMikhail TalMikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
); - tied 4-5th at MálagaMálagaMálaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
1966 on 7/11; (winners Alberic O'Kelly de GalwayAlbéric O'Kelly de GalwayAlbéric O'Kelly de Galway was a Belgian chess Grandmaster , and an International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster , most famous for being the third ICCF World Champion in correspondence chess between 1959 and 1962. He was also a chess writer...
and Eleazar JiménezEleazar JiménezEleazar Jiménez Zerquera was a Cuban chess master.Jiménez won the Cuban Championship five times, in 1957, 1960, 1963, 1965, and 1967. He won the Pan American Chess Championship three times, in 1963, 1966 and 1970....
); - 6th at Briseck 1971 on 7/13 (winner Gideon Barcza);
- 5th at CienfuegosCienfuegosCienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur...
'B' 1975 on 10/17; (winners Julio Boudy and Amador Rodriguez); - tied 7-12th in the World Senior Championship, Bad Woerishofen 1992, on 7.5/11 (winner Efim GellerEfim GellerEfim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
).
Wade was the only British player to have faced Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
in tournament play (outside of Olympiads). They met three times, with Wade drawing one game and losing the other two.
Later years
Wade earned the title of International ArbiterInternational Arbiter
In chess, International Arbiter is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter in important chess matches . The title was established in 1951....
in 1958, and made much of his living from directing events. He defeated tournament winner Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
at Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
1960, and continued to play on the international circuit. Wade served as chess editor with the respected Batsford
Batsford
Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 99. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh...
publishers in the 1960s and 1970s, eventually retiring to make way for Raymond Keene
Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene OBE is an English chess Grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author.p196 He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England to earn a Grandmaster norm, in 1974. In 1976 he became the second...
. He managed the Batsford Chess Library after this. Well respected as a chess coach and author, Wade helped Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
prepare for his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
by collating a special file of Spassky's games. He was awarded an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for services to chess in 1979. He was made an 'Honorary Member' of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. He declined to "trade in" his International Master title for that of honorary Grandmaster, considering his title, awarded in the days before title inflation, far more valuable.
Continuing to be an active player into his 80s, Wade was still able to play at a high level. This is shown by his performance at the 2006 Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
Chess International, where he scored 6/10 with only one loss, and drew
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
his game against Grandmaster Murray Chandler
Murray Chandler
Murray Graham Chandler is a New Zealand chess grandmaster who has played internationally for that nation and for England, after gaining citizenship there in the early 1980s...
. Wade played in the European Senior Teams chess championship for the last six years, with excellent results considering his age and grade. His last major event was the Staunton Memorial in London in July 2008, where he was badly outrated (a single draw would have increased his Elo rating), and he fought gamely but scored 0/11. A few weeks before his death, he played his final serious game, for the Athenaeum Chess Club.
Wade built up an enormous chess library at his house in South London, which included books, magazines and many original bulletins from tournaments: these latter were the primary sources for many types of chess literature. The growth of this library was supported by B.T. Batsford. Eventually the library was gifted to the nation, though its eventual destination is not certain at present. In the days before computer databases the Wade library was often used by British and foreign players in preparation for matches.
Wade was hospitalized on 26 November 2008, with severe pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and died on 29 November 2008.
Opening theory
Wade was one of the first to play the chess openingChess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4, and played it for over 30 years. As of 2008, it is a slightly unusual but well-respected opening that has been played by a number of high-level grandmasters. It is known as the Wade Defence for Wade's advocacy of and contributions to the opening.