- This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
| David Pritchard | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 19, 1919 |
| Died | December 12, 2005 (aged 86) |
| Occupation | writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Subjects | chess |
| Notable work(s) | The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants |
David Brine Pritchard (October 19, 1919 - December 12, 2005)[1] was a British chess writer and indoor game consultant. He "gained pre-eminence as an indoor games and mind sports consultant, a role that he in effect created. A natural games player, it was to him that inventors or publishers would turn to organise a championship of a new game, write about it or generally promote it."[1]
Almost one million copies of his chess books have been sold. However, Pritchard is mostly known as the author of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, where he described more than 1400 different chess variants. In his second book on chess variants, Popular Chess Variants, Pritchard concentrated on 20 most popular chess variants, such as extinction chess, kriegspiel, progressive chess and others, but described them in more detail. He was also close to finishing the second edition of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants when he died in 2005.
Besides writing books, Pritchard was also an editor of Games and Puzzles from 1972 to 1981. He was a games director of the Mind Sports Organisation and president of the British Chess Variants Society.
Contents |
Personal
"Pritchard was the father of Wanda Dakin and was married to former British Ladies Chess Champion, Elaine Saunders."[2]
"Pritchard became a leading chess player when he beat the British Grandmasters Jonathan Penrose and Tony Miles, but his interests covered all indoor games."[1] "He was a life fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and his love of travel took him many times around the world."[1]
Pritchard "flew with the RAF during and after the Second World War, serving mainly in the Far East, and reached the rank of squadron leader."[1] "During his service he won the chess championship of Singapore in 1954 and Malaysia in 1955."[1] "He was for some time the president of the Battle of Britain Chess Competition, and held its championship on more than one occasion."[1] "He also won the Southern Counties Championship."[1]
Pritchard died in 2005 at age 86 and was "survived by his wife, Elaine, whom he married in 1952, and their daughter. Elaine was a chess prodigy who won the British Women's Championship at the age of 13, having already won the World Girls' Championship in 1937 and coming close to drawing an exhibition game with the world champion, Alexander Alekhine, when she was 11."[1] He has five grandchildren.[3]
Career
"His books for beginners, Begin Chess and The Right Way to Play Chess, sold many hundreds of thousands of copies since their publication in the 1950s."[1] "He also wrote on Go (the Japanese territory game) and other games and puzzles."[1] "He edited the Games & Puzzles magazine for ten years and his most recent publication was Teach Yourself Mahjong."[1]
"He served as games director of the Mind Sports Olympiad, an annual event bringing together international competitors in dozens of new and classic board games and other mental skills."[1] "He was president of the British Chess Variants Society and wrote The Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants (1994) - his magnum opus - which became the definitive work in the field."[1]
"His essays on Japanese chess (shogi) and Chinese chess (xiangqi) are regarded as masterpieces and an easy portal to understanding two of the world's oldest and most subtle board games, regarded by many as equal if not superior to the form of chess played in the West."[1]
"In his tribute on the English Chess Federation website, Stewart Reuben, a former president of the federation, described Pritchard as 'an affable man with a dry sense of humour who was in no sense old-fashioned in his views'."[1]
Books
- Go: A guide to the game (1973), ISBN 0-8117-0740-7
- Brain Games: The World's Best Games for Two (1982), ISBN 0-14-005682-3
- Puzzles for Geniuses (1984), ISBN 0-13-744632-2
- First Moves: How to Start a Chess Game (1986), ISBN 0-06-463718-2
- Puzzles and Teasers for the Easy Chair (1988), ISBN 0-7160-0796-7
- Beginning Chess (1992), ISBN 0-451-17438-0
- The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (1994), ISBN 0-9524142-0-1
- Card Games (1995), ISBN 0-7136-3816-8
- Patience Games with David Parlett (1996), ISBN 0-7136-4208-4
- The Right Way to Play Chess (2000), ISBN 1-58574-046-2
- Popular Chess Variants (2000), ISBN 0-7134-8578-7
- Honeycomb Chess with Douglas Graham Reid (2002), ISBN 095241421X
- The New Mahjong: The International Game (2004), ISBN 0-7160-2164-1
- A Family Book of Games (2007), ISBN 1-902407-52-0
- The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (2007), ISBN 0-95551-680-3
- Teach Yourself Mahjong (2007), ISBN 0-07-147882-5
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p David Pritchard. The Times (London). Features; Pg. 66. January 17, 2006.
- ^ Rooks are suffering with white away. The Gloucester Citizen. Pg. 43. December 22, 2005.
- ^ www.chessvariants.com 1999 Interview
External links
- David Pritchard 1919 - 2005 by John Beasley, Variant Chess, N 51, January 2006, pp 98, 99.
- David Brine Pritchard
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