Robert Wade (chess Player) - British Career

British Career

Better things lay ahead on Wade's next European foray. He scored 5.5/9 at Baarn 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 Olympiads, 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 1954, England board 4, 6/12 (+4 =4 -4);
• Moscow 1956, England board 3, 6.5/14 (+2 =9 -3);
• Munich 1958, England 1st reserve, 7/14 (+5 =4 -5);
• Leipzig 1960, England 2nd reserve, 6/11 (+4 =4 -3);
• Varna 1962, England 2nd reserve, 6/12 (+4 =4 -4);
• Siegen 1970, New Zealand board 2, 9/15 (+7 =4 -4);
• Skopje 1972, England board 3, 7.5/14 (+4 =7 -3).

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:

• tied 4-5th at Haifa/Tel Aviv 1958 on 7.5/13 (winner Samuel Reshevsky);
• 3rd at Bognor Regis 1959 on 7/10 (winner Erno Gereben);
• 5th at Reykjavík 1964 on 7.5/13 (winner Mikhail Tal);
• tied 4-5th at Málaga 1966 on 7/11; (winners Alberic O'Kelly de Galway and Eleazar Jiménez);
• 6th at Briseck 1971 on 7/13 (winner Gideon Barcza);
• 5th at Cienfuegos '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 Geller).

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.