Barry Wood. A Personal Memory.

O.K. So this article is going to be rather shorter than intended. ( Sighs of relief from those who regularly spend a whole week dipping in and out of my posts!! ) Been at work all day - yep it is Saturday, but EU regulations mean that there is stuff that I have to do to earn a living that can't be done at any other time!!

A couple of days ago there was a picture on Edward Winter's site that included my old friend Barry - generally known as B.H., as in Baruch Harold, Wood, that made me think of him. So I decided to write this while it was still in my head, and had not slipped through the holes in my sieve of a memory.

I first met him when I played against him in a team match, up at the old 'Chess' magazine offices in Sutton Coldfield. At the time I was normally referred to as the 'promising youngster'.

My lift was late, and by the time I got there 30 minutes had already run off my clock, and Barry - in suit and tie of course - was sitting patiently at the board.

After a quick handshake I picked up the 'Chess' standard green score sheet, wrote my name at the top and passed it to him to copy. He wrote down my name, and passed it back to me without filling his own name in!!

Being young, competitive and having the stupidity that comes with such things, I poised my pen over the blank space, and looked at him quizzically! 

After a couple of seconds he came out with 'My name is Wood'.

'Hmmm'. I said, head down, writing B.H.Wood on the scoresheet. Then I added something along the lines of 'I don't recognize the name'! A small poker game at the chess board! 

I lost!

Quick as a flash he came back with - 'Oh I'm in the grading list - somewhere near the back!!'

What could I do but smile? He smiled back. Instant friendship. 

Sadly I no longer have the game. He played his customary French Defence, and I played the Advance Variation with 4.dxc5 with which I had been crushing juniors at the time. He just murdered me!!!

As I remember my flag fell with 3 or 4 moves still to make in a lost position. it was one of those situations where you don't have time to resign in a sporting way, and I felt ashamed at not resigning rather than losing on time. I still feel bad about that over 40 years later.

It felt disrespectful, but Barry didn't take it that way, or at least, he didn't show that he had! Always a gentleman, in the true sense of the word. Well, as I say, we had become instant friends.

Barry as he was around that time, from this page. kingpin chess.

As I say, there was an instant friendship. after the game he got me a coffee, and gave me a tour of the 'Chess' works, including an insight into his personal store cupboard of treasures. Amongst other things it had bound volumes of Marco's Wiener Schachzeitung - which he described as the greatest chess publications ever - and he mentioned the name of Potter as being of similar stature, but I don't recall if he had Potter's magazines there.

After that he was always kind to me. I recall one time that 'Chess' advertised a very rare and expensive version of the St. Petersburg tournament book. I rang up the office and asked to speak to him. 

'Barry, how many copies of the St. Petersburg book have you got?'

'Two, I think'.

'I can't afford it at the moment ( for me at the time  it was nearly 2 weeks wages!!) but is there any chance that you can save one for me?'

'Hang on!'

A minute or so later he picked the phone up. 'O.K. It is on the corner of my desk. I will put it in the post for you. Send me the money when you have it'. Now Barry was very much 'old school' - very strict in many ways - I have it on good authority that he was a hard task master to work for - but his word was his bond, and clearly he regarded the word of this nothing  kid from the slums as of equal value.

A kindness that I have never forgotten. He had no need to be so kind - business is business - but he did. Thanks Barry. I still treasure it.

I also recall that in our various correspondences he would always write by hand and  sign off with 'Best Wishes, Barry', rather than what I understand was his  normal practice of getting someone else to type a letter, which he would sign as 'Yours Sincerely. B.H. Wood.'

There are a number of other things that I could put here, but time is not my friend today.

I was lucky enough to be on good terms with two other members of his family.

One of his  sons 'R.F.T.', known to me as 'Frank' was a fine player, who played on top board for the same team as me. Likewise he was always very kind to me. A couple of things stick in my head with him. In one of our games I found a surprising defensive resource. He looked at me with a frown and said. 'That's good! Too Bloody Good!!'.

I was also lucky to be in the same team as him when he produced an incredible run on top board in div. 1 of the Birmingham League, which was very strong at the time. 61/2 - 7 I think. I was awe struck!! He was just destroying very very strong players with either colour. I spent hours trying to annotate one of his wins - against a future I.M. from Birmingham University - for the local newspapers, where he sacrificed a Pawn in the opening as Black for seemingly no compensation and won inside 30 moves.

I have never, and could never, play such a game in my life.

And then there is  Barry's wife Marjorie. The most beautiful, gracious, and kind woman that I have ever met. I once made the following analogy. Groucho Marx once said that there wasn't a Jew in New York - male or female - who wasn't in love with Benny Leonard. Well, there wasn't a chess player, male or female, at the time who didn't adore Marjorie Wood.

One personal story about her. I was playing in the U-18's section, I think, of a congress where she was running the book - stall. One afternoon I went up for a browse during a game.

'Hello Simaginfan! How are you getting on?'.

'Oh, I'm Black against so-and -so. In a bit of trouble, but I might be able to wriggle out with a draw'.

Shortly afterwards she and Barry went off to the World Title match.

A few weeks later, at another congress, I went up to the book-stall. 

'Hello Simaginfan!! How did you get on in that game against so-and -so?'

What!! Incredible. After a period of weeks, and being off with the elite of the chess World, she had remembered a few seconds conversation with a chess nobody , in cheap trainers, and an even cheaper black  plastic bomber jacket. I have no idea how she even knew my name. She was an amazing person.

When she was taken from us, my tribute was one of many printed in 'Chess', and, in a way, I was ashamed to have my name there, along side so many more eminent names. But then I thought that, being as she was, it would have meant something to her. 

If anyone out there has a photograph of her, I would love to  see it.

No doubt many others could relate similar stories - that was her nature.

O.K. I had better include some chess! Apologies, but this little section is not what I had intended, due to time constraints.

The following game is one that has fascinated me since I first saw it. Against the remarkable Theo Tylor, Barry gets into some difficulties and decides to fight his way out with a speculative piece sacrifice which succeeds. No doubt the modern engines would show many improvements, but it is my kind of game - a great fight and battle of ideas. I have not had time to include proper  notes, for which I apologise.

Barry was involved in 3 brilliancy prize games that I can think of.

One is a personal memory, and a very bitter-sweet one. He was once in the strange position of having to present me with a brilliancy prize for a game that he lost against me. That presentation was the last time that we met in person. The prize was two items that I still have - a copy of Eales' book 'Cambridge Chess', and a black and yellow 'chess' tie that  I still wear in appropriate circumstances.

After the game I explained that the winning idea wasn't my own - it had been 'stolen' from a game of Alekhine's. For a few seconds he went very 'distant', almost sad, and I instantly understood why. 

He was on good terms with Alekhine of course, as you can find out  here.  from which I give this photograph from the Illustrated London News - one of the newspapers that he wrote for, from Dec 1953.

Firstly, I will give a brilliancy prize game that he lost, because it  is not to be found in on-line sources. I am sure that looking down on me doing, this he will not be offended.

I well remember him telling me to make sure that I got the next month's issue of 'Chess' because it contained something very special - the incredible notes that he took of the game Kaplan -  Bronstein from Hastings. 

He was a chess fan and chess lover above all things.

Barry was botha  very active and an enthusiastic supporter and administrator, in  the fields of both Universities chess - see here for an important example, add my own particular area - correspondence chess.

To close I will give a game that won a c.c. brilliancy prize.