CHESS CHAMPION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 247, 19 October 1945, Page 6

CHESS CHAMPION

VISIT TO WANGANUI THIS i WEEK-END Great interest is being taken b\ lovers of chess in the visit of the Nev. ' Zealand champion, R. G. Wade, who arrives in Wanganui to-day and will, play to-morrow and give an exhibit tion on Sunday. In the strongest field ever to contest the Australian chess championship—a field bristling with the names of State champions and past winners.• and one from which grand master I Jajos Steiner emerged the winner—R. G. Wade, New Zealand chess cham-i pion, recorded easily the best per-i formance of any New Zealander b\ ; being in a triple tie for second place, • reports a correspondent, on the recent Australian championships. Wade, a product of New Zealani.; che.-s, demonstrated that the Dornin-' ion brand is very much nearer the Australian standard than ever before. He showed himself the equal of the best Australian-born players and also proved in his biggest test that he ha; the stamina needed for a l5-, round event —an essential ror .-access- J ful tournament play. Until the fifteenth round Wade had had onl\ ' one defeat, his conqueror being H. Klass, strong Sydney Club player. It was his defeat by C. J. S. Purdy, twice Australian champion, that relegated Wade from a clear second to the triple tie. Wade drew his game with Steiner.

The first New Zealand aspirant Io Australian championship honours was the late H. Hookham, of Christchurch. He just failed to reach the prize list in the tourney al Adelaide in 1887. Next year al Melbourne Brocklebank (Auckland) went one better by getting fourth prize. After a long gap A. W. O. Davies (Dunedin and Auckland) shared fourth place in 1922. Ten years x later J. B. Dunlop, a Dominion title-holder, tried his luck, but was in poor form and was never in the hunt. Next, at. Sydney in 1938, A. W. Gyles, many times Wellington champion and the national winner of 1935, tilled eighth place in a strong field of 14.

Wade's performance has closed what has been referred Io as the “appreciable but not yawning gap” between New Zealand's best and Australia’s best, and the game here has been given a big fillip to start it on its post -war progress.