Frank Parr (17 December 1918 – 28 December 2003) was an English

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player who was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

. He was British Boys (Under 18) champion in 1935.

Biography

Parr won the Hastings Premier in 1939/1940 with a score of 6/7, including five wins and two draws. He played in uniform, having been called up for military service in 1939. This was his only Hastings Premier appearance, although he played in many Challengers' sections up to 2002/3. Parr was the British

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less commo ...

champion in 1948 (joint with Gabriel Wood), 1949 (joint with H Israel), 1950, and 1956. Parr played in 25

British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it ha ...

s from 1936 to 1991, compiling an overall score of 134½/275. He made his first appearance in the championship in 1936, taking fifth place with 6/11 including a victory over George Alan Thomas. In his second appearance in 1955 he scored 7½ with wins over Robert Wade and Jonathan Penrose. His best result was in 1956 when, after managing only a draw in the first two rounds, he won eight consecutive games before drawing with

Leonard Barden Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, in South Croydon, London) is an English chess master, writer, broadcaster, journalist, organizer and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at Whitgift School, South Croydon, and Balliol ...

in the last round to finish with 9/11. Although this score would have secured first place in most years, he took second a half point behind Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander despite having won their individual encounter in round eight. Parr was a traveling reserve member of the English team for the 1937 Anglo–Dutch match in

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, but he did not play. He scored 1½/2 on ninth board at the 1939 Anglo–Dutch match in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He never held any

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

or British Chess Federation titles. Before retirement he worked as a messenger at the

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. He had three sons and one daughter. Aside from chess, his main hobby was gardening, but he was also a supporter of Fulham Football Club and a patron of

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South Londo ...

. After a long illness Parr died in

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

on 28 December 2003, the opening day of the

Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess tournament 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 t ...

Legacy

The British Federation for Correspondence Chess introduced a Frank Parr Memorial Tournament in 2005. Held alongside it was the David Parr Memorial, dedicated to Frank's eldest son, another fine chess player who also died in 2003. Parr had a long chess career. He was known for his aggressive style and alertness to tactical possibilities. The following game is his best-known, and he annotated it for ''

British Chess Magazine ''British Chess Magazine'' is the world's oldest chess journal 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''. The founder and ...

''. He had a tapestry made of one of the game's key positions, which he hung on the wall of his living room. Reinfeld and Chernev, in their ''Fireside Book of Chess'', eulogize—"In the opinion of the writers, Parr's masterpiece has well-founded claims to being considered the finest attacking game of all time." After the final move they exclaim "One of the greatest combinative games on record!"

Notable game

Frank Parr vs. George Wheatcroft, City of London Chess Club Championship 1938, Neo-Grünfeld Defence
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. e3 0-0 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. 0-0 cxd4 11. cxd4 e5? 12. d5! Ne7 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Nc3 Qa5 15. Qb3 e4?! 16. Nxe4! Nxd5 After 16...Bxa1 17.Rxa1 Nxd5 18.Rd1! White has too many threats. 17. Rac1 Be6 18. Rc5 Qb6 19. Rb5! Qa6 20. Nc5! Nxe3?! 21. Nxe6! Nxf1 Now Black intends to meet 22.Nxg7 with 22...Nd2! 22. Ng5!! Nd2 23. Qxf7+ Kh8 24. Bd5!! Threatening 25.Qg8+! Rxg8 26.Nf7#. h6 25. Bb2! Again threatening mate; Black cannot play 25...Bxb2 because of 26.Qh7#. Rg8 26. Qd7!! Now White has two pieces hanging, but neither can be captured: if 26...hxg5, 27.Qh3#. In the meantime, White threatens 27.Qh3! and 28.Qxh6#. Qa4 Threatening 27...Qd1+ 28.Kg2 Qf1#! 27. Bb3! Nxb3 28. Nf7+ Kh7 29. Rh5!! Leaving two more pieces ''en prise''. If 29...Qxd7, 30.Ng5+ Kh8 31.Rxh6#. If 29...gxh5, 30.Qf5#. Qa5 30. Rxh6+! (Black

resigned Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

). If 30...Bxh6, 31.Ng5

double check In chess and other related games, a double check is a check delivered by two pieces simultaneously. In chess notation, it is almost always represented the same way as a single check ("+"), but is sometimes symbolized by "++". (The symbol "++", ...

Kh8 32.Qh7#.Notes based on those in

Irving Chernev Irving Chernev (January 29, 1900 – September 29, 1981) was a chess player and prolific Ukrainian-born American chess author. He was born in Pryluky, Ukraine, then a part of the Russian Empire and emigrated to the United States in 1905. Cherne ...

and

Fred Reinfeld Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) was an American writer on chess and many other subjects. He was also a strong chess master, often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a colleg ...

, ''The Fireside Book of Chess'', Simon and Schuster, 1949, pp. 392-93. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, Frank 1918 births 2003 deaths English chess players People from Wandsworth Sportspeople from the London Borough of Wandsworth 20th-century British chess players